The race for the District 9 seat on the City Council pits two-term incumbent Elisa Chan against a former employee whose career as a bureaucrat spans nearly two decades.

Jason Salinas, who served as Chan's chief of constituency from 2009 to 2012, filed to run against his ex-boss on the last day of the filing period, on March 1. If there's bad blood between the two, neither is talking about it.

“The main reason (for seeking office) was because there was nobody else running,” Salinas said. “From all my experience in government, the only time our system of government works is when you have a real choice.”

Salinas said he was waiting to see if someone else was going to challenge Chan. Indeed, the city of Helotes' city administrator had considered joining the fray. Rick Schroder appointed a campaign treasurer and accepted a political contribution (and subsequently filed a required campaign-finance report), but ultimately didn't seek a place on the May 11 ballot. So Salinas did.

He faces an uphill battle. Besides the difficulty of taking on an incumbent, Salinas is facing a formidable fundraiser.

Between Jan. 1 and April 1, Chan reported having raised $47,292 and maintained nearly $100,000 on-hand at the end of the reporting period.

Salinas has yet to file a campaign-finance report. He said he didn't file the report for the time period ending April 1 because at that point, he hadn't received or spent any money. Salinas said his financial supporters would be identified on his financial report due on May 3.

Because Salinas is in a contested race and on the ballot, he is required to file a report, regardless of whether he raises or spends money in the reporting period.

If Salinas wasn't spending money early, he is now, evidenced by several large campaign signs in the district.

Giving voters a choice appears to be the challenger's most significant thrust in his campaign. Salinas' website offers little in terms of detailed positions or a political platform, save saying he believes in “responsible government that is responsive to the taxpayers.”

Salinas also says that he wants to eliminate “duplication and waste,” but offered no specifics.

In an interview, Salinas was equally broad — and lacking in specifics. He said District 9 residents are overwhelmingly concerned about traffic, especially on U.S. 281, a highway managed by the Texas Department of Transportation.

“We're going to have to use whatever legislative means are available to the city to ensure the city is taken care of in that regard,” he said.

Chan has detailed plans for a third term and a four-year record on council. She points to the successful conclusion to a heated battle over a Wal-Mart that plans to locate adjacent to Phil Hardberger Park as one of her top achievements in the current council term.

“Certainly, the Wal-Mart issue is the most complicated case that I was able to bring to a successful resolution,” she said.

Chan forced the Bentonville, Ark.-based discount retailer back to the negotiating table and helped to extract important concessions both for nearby neighbors and for the park.

She also notes that she's a part of a council that has done a good job at weathering the U.S.'s economic downturn.

“Collectively, this council has not raised any tax rates,” she said. “We were able to balance the budget in very, very tough economic times.”

The councilwoman also says she's responsive to her constituents. She and her staff collectively attended more than 175 neighborhood meetings in the past two years, have focused on rehabilitating hundreds of streets in the district and communicate with her constituents with a weekly email, she said.

Chan said she's also “an independent voice” on the City Council, and has roundly been known as the chief thorn in the saddle of Mayor Julián Castro.

If re-elected to a third term, Chan said she would continue to focus on helping the growth of small business in the city and promote international economic development, a role she's taken in the past by traveling to China.

Chan's business connections have been scrutinized lately, and are being targeted by a push to strengthen the city's code of ethics. In the wake of a highly publicized ethical blunder enveloping the contracting process for an expansion of the city's convention center, Castro has advocated for additions to the city's ethics standards.

In part, he's called for a prohibition of contracts between businesses owned by city officials and any entity to which the council appoints board members. Chan's Unintech Consulting Engineers firm has sought work from the San Antonio Water System in the past, and a company official has recently reaffirmed its desire to seek SAWS contracts, according to an email sent to SAWS.

Recently, the City Council also rescinded a vote to purchase property for a new District 9 branch library after the Express-News discovered that Chan and her husband own the adjacent land, where their engineering firm is headquartered. The councilwoman did not disclose that information when the council originally voted.

Salinas said it's an issue in the forefront for voters.

“Obviously, there's been a lot of discussions here lately about ethics. Those ethics discussions have been centered around her,” he said. “That concerns me. It concerns the voters as well.”